Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House to continue the debate on diafiltered milk.

In Canada, and especially in my riding, Salaberry—Suroît, the dairy industry is very important. It contributes a total of $3.6 billion in taxes to all three levels of government every year. It also sustains about 215,000 full-time jobs across the country.

Our dairy farms play an important role in stimulating our rural regions both economically and socially. Let us remember that one out of every eight jobs is in the agri-food industry. The 1,100 dairy farms in my region, Montérégie, account for about 10,000 direct and indirect jobs. The dairy industry as a whole contributes about $1.4 billion to Canada's GDP.

Diafiltered milk crossing our border has cost the average farm a little over $16,000 in the past year alone. Farmers' concerns are being exacerbated by the Liberal government's lack of clarity about its plans for diafiltered milk, its failure to take action in the year since it came to power, and its concessions during the European Union free trade agreement and trans-Pacific partnership negotiations.

These new agreements pose the risk of other milk proteins entering the Canadian market without tariffs being imposed, as is currently the case for milk proteins from the United States, which are coming into Canada and competing with our dairy products. This is really hurting our dairy producers.

It has been two and a half years since farmers first raised the issue of diafiltered milk crossing our borders. During the last election campaign, the Liberals promised to take action and come up with a solution within the first six months of their term. However, it has been nearly a year, almost to the day, since the last election, and there has been absolutely no progress on this issue.

The cheese standards set by the federal government are still not being followed. The diafiltered milk that is crossing our borders is considered a protein concentrate by the Canada Border Services Agency and is therefore not subject to customs duties. That is why it is having such a negative impact on our dairy producers. However, it is considered as milk once it gets to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. It is the same product and the same government, and yet the product has two distinct identities in the eyes of the two departments. Houston, we have a problem.

According to one study commissioned by Agropur, 4,500 to 6,000 farms could disappear in the near future and 40% of processing could move to other countries if supply management were to be sacrificed for the sake of the largest free trade agreement to date.

Last week, the Minister of Agriculture told a Senate committee that the ingredient strategy alone was not the solution to the diafiltered milk problem.

Can the minister provide more details about her strategy and, more importantly, give us a timeline for the implementation of this strategy?

The producers have been waiting for a response from the government for a year now. There were many consultations, many meetings, and many questions, but they are still waiting.

There is increasing evidence confirming that the European Commission is expanding discussions on the agreement in various fora in anticipation of the October 27 EU-Canada Summit, where the comprehensive economic and trade agreement is expected to be signed by senior officials.

Once the agreement is signed, the EU Parliament will have to ratify it before it is provisionally put into effect. In that context, the government needs to announce its compensation program for the producers, at least for the CETA component, by the time the agreement is ratified.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for allowing me to answer the question on the very serious issue of diafiltered milk.

To begin with, I would like to say that, as a dairy producer, I am proud of the fact that Canada can count on such a strong and vibrant dairy sector. We will repeat what we have always said: supply management is an important pillar of our agriculture sector. Those on this side of the House support Canada's supply management system, unlike others who would like to abolish it. We support dairy producers and their families, and we support the entire dairy industry.

As promised, we met with many producers across the country, and we truly understand the concerns they shared with us. My son, who took over the family farm, never misses an opportunity to remind me of the challenges that dairy producers face.

In recent months, we have shown that we are listening to the dairy industry and that we are doing everything we can to find a long-term sustainable solution. During our consultations, we met with industry representatives, producers, processors, and regional and national agricultural associations across the country. I would like to thank all those who participated because this process was done in a spirit of co-operation, which made it possible to maximize results and have productive and constructive discussions. We heard from many people and we will continue to gather the views of as many stakeholders as possible. The comments that have been made will help us implement a modernization strategy that will be good for the entire industry.

All we want is to improve the position of all Canadian dairy producers and ensure that this industry, to which I dedicated my life, can continue to grow and prosper in an ever-changing global economy.

I can assure my colleagues that we are doing everything we can to meet the industry's unique challenges in order to ensure that producers are able to seize every opportunity and achieve the best results possible. Canadian producers and their families, as well as the entire dairy industry, can count on the government to act in their best interests.